Glen Race hearing sheds light on 2007 murders

Michael Knott, 44, and Trevor Brewster, 45, both killed

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Glen Race says he is not criminally responsible for killing two Nova Scotia men in 2007.

The families of Trevor Brewster and Michael Knott have learned how their loved ones violently died six years ago after an agreed statement of facts was read in a Nova Scotia court on Monday.

Glen Race pleaded guilty in September in the province's Supreme Court to first and second-degree murder in their deaths.

The Crown read an agreed statement of facts on Monday that says Race met Michael Knott on the night of May 1, 2007, on Citadel Hill, where he stabbed the 44-year-old man to death in the front seat of his car.

The court heard that was the same day Race had stopped living with his parents and moved into his own apartment on North Street.

The 30-page document said Race fatally bludgeoned and stabbed 45-year-old Trevor Brewster six days later at Frenchman Lake in Dartmouth.

The court heard that following Brewster's death, Race drove Brewster's black Honda Civic to New Brunswick, stopping to ask the toll attendant at the Cobequid pass about the easiest route to the U.S.-Canada border.

After spending a few days in Quebec, Race drove Brewster's Civic down a remote logging road near the Quebec-U.S. border. He then walked into the U.S., entering illegally.

A few kilometres south of the U.S.-Canada border near the Township of Mooers in upstate New York, he entered a hunting lodge through an unlocked window.

The lodge belonged to Darcy Manor. The court heard while Manor was outside working on a water pump, Race shot him in the back with a rifle.

Race took his latest victim’s keys and wallet. He used an ATV on Manor’s property to drag the man’s body into the woods.

Race then set off south in Manor’s truck.

He was arrested on May 15, 2007 attempting to cross the border into Mexico from Texas after attacking and biting a guard at the border. In his duffle bag, police found the rifle he used to kill Manor, as well as ammunition, knives, and camouflage makeup. He also had in his possession Brewster's Visa card and Nova Scotia driver's license and Manor's Visa card.

Race pleads guilty

Race pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Brewster, and guilty to second-degree murder in Knott's death.

Race's lawyer argues his client should be found not criminally responsible for his crimes. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is being held in the East Coast Forensic Hospital. The judge did not enter convictions so that the application can be heard.

As the hearing continues, psychiatrists will testify for both the Crown and defence about Race's mental state before lawyers make their closing arguments and a Supreme Court Justice decides his fate.

Once the hearing wraps, Race will be sent back to prison in New York, where he is serving time for murdering Darcy Manor.

His lawyer is trying to reopen the New York case to make the same mental health arguments that are being made in Canada.